page_title: Magnus Stenbock
section_title: War in Skåneland
hierarchical_section_title: Magnus Stenbock / Great Northern War (1700–1713) / War in Skåneland
context_page_description: Count Magnus Stenbock was a Swedish field marshal and Royal Councillor. A renowned commander of the Carolean Army during the Great Northern War, he was a prominent member of the Stenbock family. He studied at Uppsala University and joined the Swedish Army during the Nine Years' War, where he participated in the Battle of Fleurus in 1690. After the battle, he was appointed lieutenant colonel, entered Holy Roman service as Adjutant General, and married Eva Magdalena Oxenstierna, daughter of statesman Bengt Gabrielsson Oxenstierna. Returning to Swedish service he received colonelcy of a regiment in Wismar, and later became colonel of the Kalmar and then Dalarna regiments.
  During the Great Northern War, Stenbock served under King Charles XII in his military campaigns in the Baltic and Polish fronts. As director of the General War Commissariat, Stenbock collected substantial funds and supplies for the maintenance of the Swedish army, earning the admiration of Charles XII. In 1705 he was appointed general of the infantry and Governor General of Scania.
context_section_description: News of the disastrous defeat of Charles XII at the hands of Peter I and his army at the battle of Poltava in Ukraine, on 28 June 1709, spread across the Swedish empire throughout that summer of 1709. Charles XII managed to escape across the border to the Ottoman Empire, accompanied by roughly 1,000 men, but the remnants of his army surrendered at the village of Perevolochna near the Dnieper river. The defeats at Poltava and Perevolochna resulted in the deaths of 7,000 Swedish soldiers and the capture of 23,000 soldiers and non-combatants. With the Swedish main army destroyed, Denmark and Saxony returned to the war, forming a new coalition against the Swedish empire. Saxon troops entered Poland to recapture the royal crown of Augustus II, whilst Danish-Norwegian troops under Frederick IV invaded Scania and Bohuslän.
  After receiving Leijonkloo's reports of Danish rearmament, Stenbock summoned a meeting with several dignitaries from Malmö. He urged that the city's defenses must be strengthened and food and reinforcements acquired in preparation for a siege, since Malmö formed a strategic key point for the dominion of Scania and the defense of the Swedish mainland. Landskrona was also in need of reinforcement, and Stenbock appealed that a provisional fortress should be built in Kristianstad to prevent the Danes from moving into Blekinge. However, the fortifications of Helsingborg were dilapidated to the extent that the city was deemed impossible to defend. The coastal guard was reinforced, and beacons were erected at Barsebäck, Råå and other exposed stretches along the Öresund coast, where Stenbock expected the Danes would land. Apart from the fortress garrisons, Stenbock had only a few regiments at his disposal, and most of their men were poorly equipped. On 22 August Stenbock reported the Danish threat to the Defense Commission. The commission agreed to send three cavalry regiments from Västergötland to Scania's defense, and in October, they reassembled both the Northern and Southern Scanian cavalry regiments, who previously been wiped out at Poltava. Stenbock himself mustered 3,000 fresh troops. In September he issued a general declaration calling the people of Scania to fidelity to the Swedish King, in order to prevent pro-Danish guerrilla organization and collaboration. On 27 September 1709, Stenbock made an inspired speech to the citizens of Malmö, dispelling their concerns about the loss at Poltava and reminding them of their duty to their King and fatherland. Addressing the people of Scania as brethren, he was prepared to die by their side.
  You all know how the great Kings of Sweden, Charles X Gustav and Charles XI, strived to [...] preserve this duchy and this fortress, as one of the foremost jewels within the royal Swedish crown. Still, they have never exempted themselves from wearing bloody shirts like their brave men, who let their blood flow on the sandy hills of Copenhagen, Halmstad, Lund and Landskrona. [...] Since we own a King, who with the same care watches over our well-being, why should we step away from the famous footsteps of our ancestors? I am a living witness to the good intent of His Royal Majesty, in which I for seven consecutive years have witnessed him, with peerless courage, march straight towards his enemies, in order to obtain a safe and lasting peace for his faithful subjects; thus leaving each and every one to judge, whether something would be more to our interests than to, with our faithfulness, reward His Majesty's untiring effort in his difficult campaign, and assert his immortal praise with valor. And since this duchy might be called the key to the Kingdom of the Swedes, including this fortress to the duchy, I will, as the governor of this domain, regard this as my greatest duty, that through the protection of this city, I will safeguard the welfare and property of each and every one of you, and I shall also have lives and blood unspared at all times, in my belief that you as well from now on, as honest men and faithful subjects, show your willingness in unadulterated fidelity. Thus, I 
caption: Magnus Stenbock talks to the people on the staircase of Malmö City Hall in 1709. Painting (1892) by Gustaf Cederström.
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